Madrilonia

Madrilonia is an initiative formed in Madrid, Spain, free from institutional or political funding. Their politics deal with sharing the general pissed-offedness of the times, and then in turn directing that feeling towards those who deserve it.

Their writings, collectively signed, address the state of Fear and Loathing in Madrid. “Fear of the Crisis, fear of losing our jobs, of not finding another one, fear of not being taken care of by the few social services remaining. Fear of others, of violence, of indefinite threats…but, above all. loathing. An infinite loathing that’s swallowing every corner of this city”. But they don’t stop there. Surging from the collective gravitas of the times, they communicate, develop and share reflections and ideas, from the people, to the people.

Madrilonia do this by posing a simple question: how do we turn this fear and loathing into action? Their writings invite reflection, and “…an exercise in bodily and intellectual agitation designed to invert this tendency towards the destruction of the very foundations that make communal living possible”. They write and share news about what’s going on, bypassing the pretentious, aseptic and supposedly objective language of mainstream media, to try and get to the meat of the story, the bare bones.

They also strive to keep up with, analyse, and amplify the collective processes formed in the city’s public squares, like the Indignados/15-M movement, the “Citizen Tides” defending public health and education, and the anti-foreclosure movement. Their analyses of the current economic situation, austerity politics, the degeneration of democracy, corruption and the so-called debt crisis aren’t simply declamations without answers. Madrilonia offers perspectives on understanding our world and identifing what the future may hold, but also on interrelating the various, seemingly dispersed factions of a movement that seeks change.

Their collaborators include journalists, social activists, commons and P2P theorists, sociologists, and more. As a collective, they’ve authored a book, “La Carta de los Comunes: Para el cuidado y disfrute de lo que de todos es.” (The Commons Letter: For the Care and Enjoyment of that which Belongs to All”), edited by copyleft publisher Traficante de Sueños, to incite constructive debate on the commons.